Genital injury and implied consent to alleged rape

Abstract

A review of 440 cases of reported rape was undertaken to see if sustaining injury to the genital area was an inevitable consequence of being raped. Injuries to areas other than the genital were taken as objective evidence that the victim did not consent to the encounter, while sperm found in her vagina that could not be accounted for by voluntary coitus was taken as objective evidence that penile penetration of the vagina had occurred. Of the 75 victims with objective evidence of both noncompliance and vaginal penetration, 28% sustained genital injury. The absence of genital injury does not imply consent by the victim or the absence of vaginal penetration by the assailant.